Nine Signs of an Intellectually Dishonest Roman Catholic Apologist
I am always amazed that how it is when me or some other Christian apologist such as Bro. Gerry Soliman always attacked with accusations of intellectual dishonesty. The issue is whether or not I have never committed the acts below because we are all sinners, but the problem is when a person has been calling the kettle black. I'll admit I have done some intellectual dishonesty myself and I pray by the grace of God I avoid such illogical stupidity.
1.) The tendency to only read (websites, books, periodicals), listen (audio materials) or watch anything (videos) he or she just agrees with.
We all have this tendency do we? It just made me think how some Roman Catholic faith defenders tend to only cite Roman Catholic sources most of the time. Now I admit that there's my tendency to do so but sometimes, I bother to read through Roman Catholic sources to get information like Alfonsus Ligouri's own prayer to prove Roman Catholics indeed worship Mary to cut through their gobbledygook.
2.) Playing the game of false dilemma.
I noticed that aside from name calling, there's the tendency to use the "agree with me or you're stupid" or "if you are not for me, you are against me" card. If an intellectually dishonest atheist can do it, so can an intellectually dishonest Roman Catholic faith defender. It just reminded me of how these people restrict alternatives whenever they are available. What they may be ignoring is that even if there's a moral law, people may have a certain degree of freedom like while you are told to dress decently but you have the freedom to dress in any way as long as you are dressed decently.
3.) Getting emotional with those who disagree.
One of the reasons why I now avoiding debates with Roman Catholic faith defenders is not because I am afraid, it's a huge waste of time. As said, you debate in their camp and they win and they debate in your camp, you win. I noticed how often these guys get emotional most especially when anger clouds their judgment and worse, there's a lot of bad words.
4.) Praising one's self above others as professional, well-composed and intellectually honest.
If atheists call themselves as rational, I have seen many Roman Catholic faith defenders who dare call themselves as professional, well-composed and intellectually honest when in fact they are the opposite. It was funny to see some of them say they are professional with their actions but they display typical childish behavior. Worse, they tend to believe once you withdraw, they assume that they won. As the Bible says in Proverbs 27:2, do not praise yourself, instead wait for the praise of others.
5.) Delivering statements as if they were questions.
If atheist scholars can do this, so can Roman Catholic faith defenders. It's all about preparing some really hard questions just to perpetuate the argument.
6.) Attacking the person instead of the argument (Ad Hominem).
It's simple enough to see how many times a Roman Catholic faith defender loves to attack the person instead of the argument. This has been one of the most childish tactics used by Roman Catholic faith defenders is to always attack the person instead of the argument.
7.) Quoting from famous Roman Catholic scholars, theologians and apologists usually without backup for their arguments.
I always find it amazing how these Roman Catholic faith defenders speak from their favorite scholars, theologians and apologists usually without backing up or at least, defending the arguments. I always felt like that many of them just quote and quote without backing up the statement. It just reminded me of a Roman Catholic apologist who I debated with when I used to engage in debates. He was only copying and pasting his arguments from certain scholars, theologians and apologists but didn't back them up.
8.) Using of generic catch phrases without much support.
There are many catchphrases to defend one's intellectual dishonestly like, "studies show", "it's a scientific fact" or "everybody knows" to justify one's blunder. One good example I can come up with (for illustrative purposes) is that a Roman Catholic faith defender who may be defending Pope Francis' call for a worldwide abolition of death penalty by saying, "Studies show death penalty does not decrease crime." then show the same set of papers that says the same statement with inconsistent back-up, like many anti-death penalty studies also tend to be dishonest or two, confuse death penalty with murder. Generic catchphrases do not change the truth of the matter.
9.) Not seeing the need to criticize yourself.
I always find it funny how Roman Catholic apologists can abuse the statement, "Do not judge and you will not be judged." but many of them are pretty judgmental one way or another. In short, remember the phrase that Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-5 and Luke 6:42 that you must first remove the plank from your own eye before you remove the speck from the other? It's only right to criticize if you criticize yourself first. Sad to say but it's much easier to give criticism than to receive it, right? Their huge egos always prevents them from ever criticizing themselves while it makes them take joy in criticizing others, but never themselves or receiving it from others.
Conclusion
Looking at these traits, I am not saying that Baptist, Protestant or Evangelical apologists aren't guilty of them either. For a fact, I hope that my fellow Baptists or other non-Baptist Christian brethren would not stoop down to the level of intellectual dishonestly as the opponents have to offer. At the same time, these nine signs can also be applicable to conspiracy theorists as well.
Note:
The idea was taken from "9 Signs That You Might Be An Intellectually Dishonest Atheist"
1.) The tendency to only read (websites, books, periodicals), listen (audio materials) or watch anything (videos) he or she just agrees with.
We all have this tendency do we? It just made me think how some Roman Catholic faith defenders tend to only cite Roman Catholic sources most of the time. Now I admit that there's my tendency to do so but sometimes, I bother to read through Roman Catholic sources to get information like Alfonsus Ligouri's own prayer to prove Roman Catholics indeed worship Mary to cut through their gobbledygook.
2.) Playing the game of false dilemma.
I noticed that aside from name calling, there's the tendency to use the "agree with me or you're stupid" or "if you are not for me, you are against me" card. If an intellectually dishonest atheist can do it, so can an intellectually dishonest Roman Catholic faith defender. It just reminded me of how these people restrict alternatives whenever they are available. What they may be ignoring is that even if there's a moral law, people may have a certain degree of freedom like while you are told to dress decently but you have the freedom to dress in any way as long as you are dressed decently.
3.) Getting emotional with those who disagree.
One of the reasons why I now avoiding debates with Roman Catholic faith defenders is not because I am afraid, it's a huge waste of time. As said, you debate in their camp and they win and they debate in your camp, you win. I noticed how often these guys get emotional most especially when anger clouds their judgment and worse, there's a lot of bad words.
4.) Praising one's self above others as professional, well-composed and intellectually honest.
If atheists call themselves as rational, I have seen many Roman Catholic faith defenders who dare call themselves as professional, well-composed and intellectually honest when in fact they are the opposite. It was funny to see some of them say they are professional with their actions but they display typical childish behavior. Worse, they tend to believe once you withdraw, they assume that they won. As the Bible says in Proverbs 27:2, do not praise yourself, instead wait for the praise of others.
5.) Delivering statements as if they were questions.
If atheist scholars can do this, so can Roman Catholic faith defenders. It's all about preparing some really hard questions just to perpetuate the argument.
6.) Attacking the person instead of the argument (Ad Hominem).
It's simple enough to see how many times a Roman Catholic faith defender loves to attack the person instead of the argument. This has been one of the most childish tactics used by Roman Catholic faith defenders is to always attack the person instead of the argument.
7.) Quoting from famous Roman Catholic scholars, theologians and apologists usually without backup for their arguments.
I always find it amazing how these Roman Catholic faith defenders speak from their favorite scholars, theologians and apologists usually without backing up or at least, defending the arguments. I always felt like that many of them just quote and quote without backing up the statement. It just reminded me of a Roman Catholic apologist who I debated with when I used to engage in debates. He was only copying and pasting his arguments from certain scholars, theologians and apologists but didn't back them up.
8.) Using of generic catch phrases without much support.
There are many catchphrases to defend one's intellectual dishonestly like, "studies show", "it's a scientific fact" or "everybody knows" to justify one's blunder. One good example I can come up with (for illustrative purposes) is that a Roman Catholic faith defender who may be defending Pope Francis' call for a worldwide abolition of death penalty by saying, "Studies show death penalty does not decrease crime." then show the same set of papers that says the same statement with inconsistent back-up, like many anti-death penalty studies also tend to be dishonest or two, confuse death penalty with murder. Generic catchphrases do not change the truth of the matter.
9.) Not seeing the need to criticize yourself.
I always find it funny how Roman Catholic apologists can abuse the statement, "Do not judge and you will not be judged." but many of them are pretty judgmental one way or another. In short, remember the phrase that Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-5 and Luke 6:42 that you must first remove the plank from your own eye before you remove the speck from the other? It's only right to criticize if you criticize yourself first. Sad to say but it's much easier to give criticism than to receive it, right? Their huge egos always prevents them from ever criticizing themselves while it makes them take joy in criticizing others, but never themselves or receiving it from others.
Conclusion
Looking at these traits, I am not saying that Baptist, Protestant or Evangelical apologists aren't guilty of them either. For a fact, I hope that my fellow Baptists or other non-Baptist Christian brethren would not stoop down to the level of intellectual dishonestly as the opponents have to offer. At the same time, these nine signs can also be applicable to conspiracy theorists as well.
Note:
The idea was taken from "9 Signs That You Might Be An Intellectually Dishonest Atheist"